"No, indeed?" said all the family in a chorus, "that is too much."
"I would as soon go into the woods with a set of pirates," said Sibyl.
"They howl so," said Bessie.
"We could never carry enough for them to eat," said Gem.
"I could not take such a responsibility," said Aunt Faith; "something might happen, they might get into the lake."
"They would be sure to get in; they take to the water like young ducks," said Hugh.
Before this mass of testimony, Tom was obliged to give way. "Well," he said, after a pause, "never mind about the B. B.'s so long as you have the picnic."
"Of course we cannot go to-day," began Sibyl.
"Why not?" interposed Tom; "no time like the present. I'll agree to do all the running round; I can run like a tiger."
Sibyl sighed, and glanced out into the sun-shine with a foreboding of heat and freckles.